The awards in 25th round of the Benefactor of the Year Competition were presented in Sofitel Hotel in Warsaw on June 2. This-year’s winners include Radio 357, Ikea, Allegro, Orange Foundation, Jeronimo Martins Polska S.A, PURELLA sp. z o.o., Nationale-Nederlanden, PwC and two local companies: Agencja Reklamowa Parasol and Galeria Smaku Barbara Federowicz. The Competition Committee granted also two 25th Anniversary Awards.
The objective of the Competition for the Benefactor of the Year title is to present the partnership cooperation of small, medium-sized and large companies with NGOs, and award valuable employee volunteering programs as well as initiatives related to broadly conceived corporate social responsibility.
The following organizations are the winners of jubilee round of the Competition:
- in Culture and Education category – RADIO 357 nominated by the Saint Nicholas Foundation, and Orange Foundation nominated by Empowering Children Foundation;
- in Environment and Climate Protection category – Jeronimo Martins Polska S.A. nominated by Polish Society for Nature Conservation “Salamandra”;
- in Openness to Diversity category – Agencja Reklamowa Parasol nominated by L’ARCHE Poland and IKEA Retail Sp. z o.o. nominated by Empowering Children Foundation;
- in Social and Charity Assistance category – GROUPE SEB POLSKA SPÓŁKA Z O.O. nominated by po DRUGIE Foundation, and Allegro.pl nominated by Wiosna Association;
- in Healthy Lifestyle category – PURELLA SP. Z O.O. nominated by OnkoCafe Foundation – Better Together, and Nationale-Nederlanden nominatef by the Faces of Depression Foundation;
- in Local Partnerships category – Galeria Smaku Barbara Federowicz nominated by Coalition for the Young of Białobrzegi Foundation;
- in Employee Volunteering category – PwC.
On the occasion of 25th anniversary, the Competition Committee granted special awards for many years of cooperation with NGOs in social engagement. They went to the following two companies:
- Mondi Świecie S.A. which for over 16 years has been offering financial and substantive support to Enterprise Incubator Świecie Region Economic Development Association (Kujawsko-Pomorskie province), and
- Allegro.pl – triple winner of the Benefactor of the Year Competition. From its very beginnings the company has run charity campaigns in partnership with organizations and given evidence that technology can solve many social problems.
More information about the winners
The 25th anniversary of the competition for the Benefactor of the Year title made an occasion to publish a jubilee report presenting activities of this year’s winners, as well as statistical data of 25 years of the Competition, interviews with members of Competition Committee, and the Rules of Business and NGOs Good Cooperation Charter.
The Competition Committee: Justyna Duriasz-Bułhak, the Chairperson of the Management Board of Polish Donors’ Forum, Rural Development Foundation; Jerzy Koźmiński, the President and CEO of Polish-American Freedom Foundation; Kazimierz Krupa, a journalist specialized in economic issues; Paweł Oksanowicz, a radio journalist and author of many books; Anna Potocka-Domin, the Vice President for Social Contacts of Business Centre Club, the Head of Business and Human Rights Program UN GCNP; Professor Bolesław Rok, Positive Impact Entrepreneurship Research Center at Koźminski University; Marzena Strzelczak, the President of Responsible Business Forum; Maciej Witucki, the President of Confederation Lewiatan; and Kamil Wyszkowski, the Executive Director of the UN Global Compact Network Poland.
The organizer of the Benefactor of the Year Competition is the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland. The competition is funded by Polish-American Freedom Foundation which at the same time is a patron of Local Engagement category promoting social activity of businesses which in cooperation with Act Locally Centers contribute to changes in local communities. The procedure correctness of the Competition is supervised by E&Y.
The partners in the 25th round of the competition are Confederation Lewiatan, Business Centre Club, Global Compact Network Poland, Employers of Poland, the Responsible Business Forum, and Polish Donors Forum.
